L'ESERCITO ITALIANO E LA CONQUISTA DELLA CATALOGNA (1808-1811).UNO STUDIO DI MILITARY EFFECTIVENESS NELL'EUROPA NAPOLEONICA.

L\u2019esercito italiano e la conquista della Catalogna (1808-1811) Uno studio di Military Effectiveness nell\u2019Europa napoleonica Settori scientifico-disciplinari SPS/03 \u2013 M-STO/02 La ricerca ha lo scopo di ricostruire e valutare l\u2019effettivit\ue0 militare dell\u2019esercito italiano al servizio di Napoleone I. In primo luogo attraverso un\u2019analisi statistica e strategica della costruzione, e del successivo impiego, dell\u2019istituzione militare del Regno d\u2019Italia durante gli anni della sua esistenza (1805-14); successivamente, \ue8 stato scelto un caso di studi particolarmente significativo, come la campagna di Catalogna (1808-11, nel contesto della guerra di Indipendenza spagnola), per poter valutare il contributo operazionale e tattico dei corpi inviati dal governo di Milano e la loro integrazione con l\u2019apparato militare complessivo del Primo Impero. La tesi ha voluto rispondere alla mancanza di studi sul comportamento in guerra dell\u2019esercito italiano e, allo stesso tempo, introdurre nella storiografia militare italiana la metodologia di studi, d\u2019origine anglosassone e ormai di tradizione trentennale, di Military Effectiveness. La ricerca si \ue8 primariamente basata, oltre che sulla copiosa memorialistica a stampa italiana e francese, sulla documentazione d\u2019archivio della Secr\ue9tairerie d\u2019\ue9tat imp\ue9riale (Archives Nationales di Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, Parigi), del Minist\ue8re de la Guerre francese (Service historique de la D\ue9fence, di Vincennes, Parigi) e del Ministero della Guerra del Regno d\u2019Italia (Archivio di Stato di Milano). Dal punto di vista dei risultati \ue8 stato possibile verificare come l\u2019esercito italiano abbia rappresentato, per Bonaparte, uno strumento duttile e di facile impiego, pur in un contesto di sostanziale marginalit\ue0 numerica complessiva di fronte alle altre (e cospicue) forze messe in campo da parte dell\u2019Impero e dei suoi altri Stati satellite e alleati. Per quanto riguarda la campagna di conquista della Catalogna \ue8 stato invece possibile appurare il fondamentale contributo dato dal contingente italiano, sotto i punti di vista operazionale e tattico, per la buona riuscita dell\u2019invasione; questo primariamente grazie alle elevate caratteristiche generali mostrate dallo stesso, ma anche per peculiarit\ue0 disciplinari e organizzative che resero i corpi italiani adatti a operazioni particolarmente aggressive.The Italian Army and the Conquest of Catalonia (1808-1811) A Study of Military Effectiveness in Napoleonic Europe Academic Fields and Disciplines SPS/03 \u2013 M-STO/02 The research has the purpose of reconstruct and evaluate the military effectiveness of the Italian Army existed under the reign of Napoleon I. Firstly through a statistic and strategic analysis of the development, and the following deployment, of the military institution of the Kingdom of Italy in the years of its existence (1805-14). Afterwards, a particularly significant case study was chosen, as the campaign of Catalonia (1808-11, in the context of the Peninsular War), in order to assess the operational and tactical contribution of the regiments sent by the Government of Milan and their integration in the overall military apparatus of the First Empire. The thesis wanted to respond to the lack of studies on the Italian army\u2019s behavior in war and, at the same time, to introduce the methodology of the Military Effectiveness Studies (of British and American origin and, by now, enriched by a thirty-year old tradition) in the Italian historiography. The research is primarily based, besides the numerous memoirs of the Italian and French veterans, on the archive documentation of the Secr\ue9tairerie d\u2019\ue9tat imp\ue9riale (Archives Nationales of Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, Paris), of the French Minist\ue8re de la Guerre (Service historique de la D\ue9fence, of Vincennes, Paris) and of the Italian Ministero della Guerra (Archivio di Stato di Milano). About the results, it has been verified how the Italian army has become a flexible and suitable instrument for Bonaparte, albeit in a context of substantial overall numerical marginality in comparison to the heterogeneous forces available to the Empire and its others satellites and allied states. Regarding the campaign of Catalonia, instead, it was possible to ascertain the fundamental contribution of the Italian regiments, in an operational and tactical perspective, for the success of the invasion. This was primarily due to the excellent general characteristics shown by the expeditionary force, but also to disciplinary and organizational peculiarities that have made the Italian corps suitable for particularly aggressive operations

Performance-based Earthquake Evaluation of a Full-Scale Petrochemical Piping System

Assessment of seismic vulnerability of industrial petrochemical and oil & gas piping systems can be performed, beyond analytical tools, through experimental testing as well. Along this line, this paper describes an experimental test campaign carried out on a full-scale piping system in order to assess its seismic behaviour. In particular, a typical industrial piping system, containing several critical components, such as elbows, a bolted flange joint and a Tee joint, was tested under different levels of realistic earthquake loading. They corresponded to serviceability and ultimate limit states for support structures as suggested by modern performance-based earthquake engineering standards. The so called hybrid simulation techniques namely, pseudo-dynamic and real time testing with dynamic substructuring, were adopted to perform seismic tests. Experimental results displayed a favorable performance of the piping system and its components; they remained below their yielding, allowable stress and allowable strain limits without any leakage even at the Near Collapse limit state condition for the support structure. Moreover, the favourable comparison between experimental and numerical results, proved the validity of the proposed hybrid techniques alternative to shaking table tests

Sediment and bottom water eDNA metabarcoding to support coastal management

Ocean sprawl and climate change exacerbate coastal erosion and flooding, resulting in habitat loss and decreasing biodiversity. To counteract these threats, different coastal defence tools have been developed, with an increasing emphasis on nature-based solutions. However, tracking the impacts of these interventions on marine benthic organisms requires appropriate sampling designs and timely investigation methods due to the dynamic nature of coastal environments. Environmental DNA metabarcoding is a promising, non-invasive, and quick technique to monitor community changes. Here, environmental DNA COI-based metabarcoding data from sediment and bottom water samples were used to characterize benthic communities at three sites along the Emilia-Romagna coast differing in the topology of coastal defence actions (from no defences to groynes and low-crested barriers) and to evaluate the effectiveness of the two sampling matrices in detecting local biodiversity. The findings revealed significant differences in the structure of the benthic communities depending on site, sample type (i.e., sediment versus bottom water), and their interaction. The three sites differ in abiotic characteristic affecting the community composition. Lido di Dante and Riccione showed higher species diversity due to the new type of substrata provided by the hard defence structure, while Foce del Bevano showed the presence of species typical of low impacted areas. Bottom water, hosting more traces of pelagic and nektonic species, showed significantly different species composition compared to sediment samples, suggesting the need to consider both matrices in coastal monitoring

Gold-Catalyzed Cascade Reactions of 4H‑Furo[3,2‑b]indoles with Propargyl Esters: Synthesis of 2-Alkenylidene-3-oxoindolines

2-alkenyliden-indolin-3-ones were synthesised in high yields via a cascade reaction between 4H\u2011furo[3,2\u2011b]indoles and propargyl esters. The cascade sequence involves initial formation of a gold-carbene specie via cationic gold(I) catalysed 1,2-acyloxy migration of properly substituted propargyl esters followed by gold-carbene to furoindole addition and successive furan ring-opening affording the final products. The obtained compounds contain an extended \uf070-system linked at the C2 of the indolin-3-ones, they are characterised by intense colouration (from yellow to purple) and were characterised by UV mesearurements

Population genomic structure of the black coral Antipathella subpinnata in Mediterranean Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems

none8siAntipathella subpinnata (Ellis and Solander 1786) is one of the most frequently observed black corals at mesophotic depths (60–200 m) of the Mediterranean Sea, particularly in the northwestern part of the basin, where its populations can reach high densities and create forest-like aggregations, both along the coast and in offshore locations such as seamounts. Similar to other marine underwater forests, black coral gardens host a rich associated fauna and attract numerous species of commercial interest. As such, these corals are targeted by recreational and artisanal fisheries and are vulnerable to human impact due to their arborescent morphology and low growth rates. Genetic connectivity can provide valuable insight into the processes of population maintenance and replenishment following environmental disturbance and is often used as a proxy for population resilience. In our study, a restriction-site associated DNA analysis (2bRAD) was used to evaluate fine-scale population structure of the Mediterranean black coral A. subpinnata, and to understand which populations could serve as a potential source of genetic diversity for adjacent populations. Colonies from two offshore localities (a Ligurian seamount and a Tyrrhenian canyon) and four coastal populations from Liguria and Sicily were sampled and genotyped. Significant genetic differentiation was recorded between coastal and offshore localities. Moreover, offshore localities were genetically distinct from one another, while all coastal populations were characterized by panmixia. This indicates that offshore A. subpinnata gardens are potentially less resilient to human impact (i.e., demersal fishing activities) due to a limited influx of larvae from adjacent habitats. In addition, they are unlikely to supply coral propagules to coastal populations. Overall, this study highlights the vulnerability of Mediterranean A. subpinnata forests, and the importance of enforcing conservation and management measures to achieve Good Environmental Status (GES, EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive) of these valuable marine ecosystems.openTerzin M.; Paletta M.G.; Matterson K.; Coppari M.; Bavestrello G.; Abbiati M.; Bo M.; Costantini F.Terzin, M.; Paletta, M. G.; Matterson, K.; Coppari, M.; Bavestrello, G.; Abbiati, M.; Bo, M.; Costantini, F

Gold-Catalyzed Cascade Reactions of 4H-Furo[3,2-b]indoles with Allenamides: Synthesis of Indolin-3-one Derivatives

Merging the ability of cationic gold(I) catalysts to activate unsaturated \u3c0-systems with the electrophiles driven ring-opening reactions of furans, we describe a new approach to 2-spiroindolin-3-ones from 4H-furo[3,2-b]indoles. The reaction occurs through a cascade sequence involving addition of a gold-activated allene to the furan moiety of the starting furoindole followed by a ring-opening/ring-closing event affording 2-spirocyclopentane-1,2-dihydro-3H-indolin-3-ones in moderate to good yields

p-TSA-Based DESs as “Active Green Solvents” for Microwave Enhanced Cyclization of 2-Alkynyl-(hetero)-arylcarboxylates: an Alternative Access to 6-Substituted 3,4-Fused 2-Pyranones

In this paper, we describe the use of p-TSA based Deep Eutectic Solvents (DESs) as alternative environmental-friendly \u201cactive\u201d solvents for the microwave-mediated synthesis of 6-substituted 3,4-fused 2-pyranones, and in particular isocoumarins, starting from 2-alkynyl-(hetero)arylcarboxylates. When the alkyne terminus bears a neutral or an electron-donating group (EDG), the reactions are fast, clean and highly regioselective, to give the 6-endo-dig cyclization products in good to excellent yields. For substrates bearing an electron-withdrawing group (EWG) on the alkyne end, the regioselectivity can be tuned by adding a small amount of silver(I) triflate as co-catalyst. DES was demonstrated to be reusable without loss of efficiency in terms of reaction yields. Based on experimental evidences and previous findings, two competitive mechanisms working simultaneously are proposed to explain the outcomes and the regioselectivity issues

Experimental investigation on the mechanical behavior of an innovative parabolic trough collector

In the present work an experimental program aimed at assessing the mechanical behavior of an innovative parabolic solar trough is presented. More specifically, a lightweight and low-cost collector making large use of adhesive joints, which can be easily assembled on-site, still performing at a high efficiency, was designed. Static and fatigue tests were performed on a full-scale prototype of the collector in the pre-production stage. The tests included differential torsion, concentrated and distributed bending, and distributed load (wind effect). During the tests, a network of strain gauges was placed in the most critical locations to measure the strain field, while laser sensors and cable transducers were placed in strategic positions to measure the displacements. The results demonstrate the strengths of the innovative parabolic trough collector and support the assessment of its structural integrity